Trouble In Paradise
by Hailyebug
Summary: Takes place during the summer after 4x23. Damon and Elena are FINALLY together and enjoying the summer of their lives. Things seem to be going just right for them on a beautiful beach trip but of course, trouble always seems to follow these two. What kind of trouble is this and how will they come together to overcome it? Delena fans, here's another one just for you!
1. Bliss Interrupted

**A/N: This takes place over the summer after 4x23. Elena and Damon are FINALLY together and Stefan has taken off to dump Silas and travel to get away from it all. Damon and Elena have spent the summer together making each other happier than they've ever been, until they decide to take a beach trip that goes horribly wrong. **

Elena slowly awoke, vision blurry, body aching. She wasn't sure where she was and she wasn't sure exactly how she got there. All she remembered was enjoying a beautiful day on the beach with Damon before someone had come up from behind her and incapacitated her. The sun shone down on them, warm and comforting. They had laid together on the beach, hand in hand, just soaking up the sun in a secluded area they had snuck off to for some privacy. It felt as though they had been there for days, soaking up the sun's warmth and each other's happiness. Never before had either of them felt so right, so happy with their lives. Everything had finally come together. Elena was free of the sire bond and more sure than ever that Damon had her heart. Silas was gone, no longer terrorizing their lives. Jeremy was somehow back and alive and with Elena again. The sun seemed to shine with their happiness, as if fueled by them more so than the universe.

One night they had decided to camp out on the beach since it was the last night they planned to stay there before returning home. Damon had a fire going, the crackling sounds carrying on the light ocean breeze, glowing embers lighting up the night for small moments in time. Elena sat with Damon, cradled in his arms lovingly, enjoying both the warmth from the fire in the cool night breeze and the warmth from Damon's body. Elena sighed, turning Damon's hand over in hers to look at the lines in his palm.

"This is so perfect Damon," she said, smiling up at him.

"I know," he replied. "I'm glad we were able to get away for a few days. This is exactly what we needed."

Elena turned around in his arms and pushed him back onto the blanket they were on, holding herself on top of him. She gave him a sweet kiss, their lips meeting with an instant spark that made it hard for the two to keep it simple. Usually any small act of affection led to a clothes-flinging free for all. To say they had chemistry was the understatement of the century. Control was something they were slowly learning so they could avoid being the awkward couple in the room any time they were with anyone but themselves. They had run Jeremy out of the house several times in the midst of their inability to get enough of each other. All the more reason why they had taken a bit of a trip to give their friends a break from the whole lovey-dovey honeymoon phase they were clearly in.

Damon chuckled and smiled a smile so happy that Elena nearly teared up at how glad she was to see him this way. Ever since she had met Damon it seemed that he believed that no one could truly love him, could truly see the love in his heart that was there to give but that was so guarded you'd have to be a pretty special person to get down to the depths of it. He had always pushed people away, not wanting them to expect good from him so they wouldn't be disappointed when he undoubtedly did something unforgivable. Truth is he only ever did that for his own protection. He didn't want to let anyone in because when you let people in, they hurt you. At least, that's how he viewed it. Elena was the first person that, once he let her in, she did nothing but build him up, fix the scars and the wounds from the past, and let him know he was worth it, that he deserved to be loved. Plus, once she was in, he couldn't get her out. She had made a place in his heart that only she could fill and he didn't like who he was when she wasn't around.

"What's that look?" Damon asked, seeing the slightest hint of tears in her eyes. "Is something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Damon. Actually, everything is just right. Finally right. I…I just love to see you happy," Elena smiled, reaching up to brush stray strands of his hair from his face. "For so long all I've seen is suffering in your eyes and now when I look into them I see happiness."

"Elena…" Damon barely whispered her name as he pulled her down onto him entirely, flipping her over onto her back to bury his face in the crook of her neck, taking in her sweet scent and tickling at her neck with his nose. She giggled and lifted his head back to where she could see his eyes, not wanting to look away from them for long. Of all the things about him, his eyes captivated her the most. "You're the reason I'm happy Elena. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I just want to stay with you in this moment forever, look into your eyes for an eternity. I'd never get tired of it. You make me the happiest man…well," Damon hesitated, "…happiest vampire alive…all technicalities aside of course." Damon lifted his eyebrows in that signature Damon look, smiling at his words. Clearly he wasn't alive but Elena knew what he meant. She made him feel alive.

Elena didn't know what to say to Damon, so instead she just reached up and tangled her fingers into his hair, pulling his face down just a bit more to hers so her lips could reach his. At first, the kiss was chaste, simple and loving, but then immediately she made the kiss deeper, more intense. Her other hand wrapped around his back, pushing his body down onto hers and his hands immediately followed, one keeping himself from crushing her by supporting his weight, the other cradling her face as they melted into the sunset together.

Elena woke just before sunrise. She was snuggled up to Damon who was still sound asleep. She wanted to sneak away from him for just a moment, hoping to take a peek at the shoreline for any seashells she could take home with them as keepsakes from their little beach getaway . Carefully she slipped out from under his arm and slipped on her white summer dress and tip toed off to the water's edge. Luckily the pre-sunrise darkness wasn't a problem for her vampire eyes. She carefully squatted down into the surf and started turning over sand, looking for a few worthy shells. After looking in a few places as she wondered down the beach she had collected a small handful of pretty little shells. _'That ought to do,'_ she thought to herself as she brushed the edge of her dress off. As she turned to walk back up to the little camp they had made in the cover of some rocks she was grabbed from behind. Whoever it was covered her mouth with their hand and wrapped the other hand around her waist and began to drag her backwards. She immediately dropped her shells, scattering them all over the sand as she attempted to fight back against her mystery assailant. But before she could do anything she felt a sting in her neck where the assailant had apparently jabbed a needle full of what must have been vervain into her. Elena kept trying to fight against her attacker, hoping to get some sound out, a yell or a cry or anything that would alert Damon to her situation but before she could she began to succumb to the vervain, collapsing onto the ground.

That was the last thing she remembered before waking up in a dark room, strapped to some sort of metal chair, wrists and ankles locked in place by metal rings. As she slowly regained consciousness Elena tried to take in her surroundings to get an idea of where she might be. There was no telling where she was and she couldn't depend on Damon to simply guess correctly as to where she was being kept in a town they had never been to before…if she was even anywhere near where she started this morning. A wave of fear rose up in her, attempting to consume her. For a moment she started to shake, but almost immediately she began to quiet the fear as she knew that letting it take over wouldn't help her escape. Instinctively she tried to pull her feet out from the restraints only to be met with blinding pain as what seemed to be barbs that must have been coated in vervain dug into her skin. Elena bit her lip trying to hold back her whimper of pain and quickly touched her feet back to the floor. _'Well that's not going to work,'_ she thought to herself. _'Apparently, whoever this is, they know about vampires. I don't understand. How did they know I was one? And what do they want with me?'_

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted as the door in the corner of the small room opened. A man walked in, looking no more ordinary than anyone else. He wore jeans and a v-neck and stood about 6 feet tall, dark hair, dark eyes, nothing outstanding about him. "Well hello my darling," the man said with what seemed to be a thick British accent. "So glad you regained consciousness just in time for me to come back. I knew eventually I'd catch up to you. Took me about 50 years, but who's counting?"

**A/N: Okay, strange chapter with the flashback right in the middle but I hope you're interested and hang on for more! I've completed the story so don't fret, you'll know soon enough what happens. You just stick around as I put up each chapter now that I'm putting the final edits on them Reviews are greatly appreciated as always!**


	2. Magic Meltdown

**A/N: Alright, not a very long chapter but the story itself isn't too long, so here's the next installment! I can't say it was easy finding a way to locate Elena without Bonnie's magic but soon you'll see what happens. Thanks to all the follows, favorites, and reviews that kept blowing up my phone last night and this morning. I'll keep posting the chapters today as I have time and hopefully the last one will be up today! **

Damon slowly stirred in his sleep. Remembering where he was and who he was with, he suddenly felt the lack of warmth next to him. Quickly flashing his eyes open, he saw that Elena wasn't lying next to him. He sat up, looking down towards the beach. "Elena?" he called out, hoping to catch her attention from wherever she had disappeared to. No reply. "Elena?" he called again, this time louder and considerably more worried. He was on his feet in an instant, walking down towards the surf to see if there was any sign of her, but all he found as he walked down the beach was a good amount of seashells strewn about the sand along with a spring loaded syringe. He felt as if his heart dropped down into his stomach as he pricked his finger with the tip of the syringe, noting that it had once held vervain. In a flash he had scooped up their things on the beach and took off towards his car.

'_Dammit,'_ he thought to himself as he threw the beach bag and the sandy towels in the trunk of his car. He dug through the bag and unhappily realized Elena's cell phone was still in the beach bag, which didn't' help him at all in his new effort to find his girlfriend. _'Think Damon, think! How are_ _you going to_ _find her?'_ he thought to himself over and over again as he paced along the side of his car, not yet knowing where to go to even begin his search. _'Bonnie! She can do a locator spell to find her!'_ Damon's chest suddenly began to rise and fall quickly with his excited breaths from his new found hope of finding Elena. He reached for his cell phone and dialed Bonnie several times, but not once did she answer. He finally gave up on her answering and immediately dialed Jeremy next, thinking he would surely be able to get a hold of Bonnie. After three rings Jeremy answered.

"Hello?" he said, surely confused as to why Damon was calling him when he figured he and Elena would be busy enjoying their trip.

"Jeremy, don't panic, but I need you to get a hold of Bonnie, and fast. Someone's taken Elena and I need Bonnie to do a locator spell so I can find her." Damon almost spit the words out too fast as Jeremy just barely understood him.

"What!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Who took her, Damon? Where you not there? How…" but he was cut off by Damon's urgent growl .

"Jeremy, questions later please. I don't have time for this right now. Just get a hold of Bonnie for me and call me right back!" Damon's tone was harsh as he hung up the phone. He was frustrated enough that this had happened right under his nose without Jeremy asking questions about it. _'Elena, I_ _swear I'll find you,'_ Damon thought to himself fiercely as he hopped in his car and made his way into the little town they had been staying in. There had to be a lead somewhere he could follow, and if there was, he was going to find it.

Jeremy however was still reeling back at the boarding house. He was the only one who knew that Bonnie couldn't possibly be of help to them because, well, Bonnie had died trying to bring him back and he was pretty sure she couldn't do magic from the other side. She hadn't had the heart to let him tell her friends this. Instead she had him tell them she was out of town for the summer. Ever since then he had been the one replying to her friends' emails and messages when he could, pretending to be her to keep the lie alive. Bonnie knew it wasn't right, but she just didn't want to bring any more unhappiness and grief into their lives and with Jeremy able to see and talk to her she had clung to him knowing at least she could have some kind of communication with the world she truly wished to be in.

Jeremy wracked his brains, trying to think of something he could do. He couldn't call Damon back up and drop the "Bonnie's dead" bomb on him at a time like this. His sister was missing, likely kidnapped, and there had to be something he could do. At that moment Bonnie appeared to him.

"Bonnie!" Jeremy exclaimed. "Someone has kidnapped Elena! We have to find a way to find her but I don't know what we can do. Without your magic, I don't know how we can find her and Damon is waiting on me to get a hold of you but I don't know what to tell him."

"Jeremy, there's nothing I can do from here. I don't have my magic here! What are we going to do?" Bonnie replied, not sure herself what to do.

"Is there anyone you know I could contact? Maybe there's another witch that could help us?" Jeremy thought, hoping that maybe there was another way to access some magic.

"Not that I know of, and I don't know how I could get anyone I know to help if I can't talk to them Jer," Bonnie sighed. She and Jeremy were both very worried about Elena but just didn't know what they could do. They were both silent for a few moments, lost in their thoughts, hoping to reach out and stumble upon an answer to this serious problem. Jeremy's phone buzzed in his hand and as he looked down he noticed a text message from Damon that read, "What's with the delay? Following a lead. When you get the information text it."

"Look Bonnie," Jeremy said as he showed her the message.

"Maybe he'll be able to find her without magic," Bonnie said, still worried but slightly hopeful after the new information.

"I don't know," Jeremy replied. "I just can't sit here knowing my sister is missing. I've gotta go help. Maybe I can help him find her. They're only an hour or so away. I've gotta go help!" And with that Jeremy jumped up and grabbed the keys to Elena's car which was sitting in the driveway. Bonnie followed him and they both set out to meet up with Damon.

**A/N: Keep hanging on! The next chapter is shorter but sets us up for chapter 5, which is my favorite so it should be interesting. :) I love reviews, good or bad, so keep 'em coming and I'll try to reply to them as I see them while I'm editing!**


	3. Doppelganger Dilemma

**A/N: I apologize for the shortness but luckily the next chapter will be up soon after so you won't have to wait long for more to be revealed. This just keeps us up to speed on Elena's status who happens to have gotten into an odd predicament indeed. They never said being a doppelganger would be easy! Also, to anyone who caught a glimpse of the unedited version that got thrown up her by accident, sorry! I flubbed posting the right one in my excitement!**

"What? No, I think you have me confused with someone else. I…" Elena began to speak but she was cut off by the man.

"Oh Katherine, you knew I'd find you eventually. If you really think you can talk yourself out of this one you're foolish," the man said as he approached Elena, still confined to the chair.

"Katherine? Katherine Pierce? No, I'm not her. I'm Elena. Elena Gilbert. I…" but her explanation was cut off yet again. The man seemed to be quite aware of the tricks Katherine would have been capable of to escape.

"You might as well shut up honey, 'cause the more you talk the more I get annoyed and when I'm annoyed, well, I tend to be mean, and you don't want to see me when I'm mean." As the man said this he reached down into a bucket sitting on a ledge next to Elena. He pulled out a long strip of fabric that was dripping with some sort of liquid. Elena shuddered with the idea of what she knew that liquid probably was as the man stepped right in front of her and shoved the strip of cloth into her mouth. It seared her skin and caused her to cry out in pain as the man tied the gag behind her head, the vervain burning her skin and her mouth.

"Now, that's much better. Now I don't have to listen to you try to drabble your way out of this. I promised James I'd get you for what you did to him and now you get to pay up." As he said this he reached for a wooden dagger lying next to the bucket of vervain and quickly poised it in the air towards Elena. She tried to struggle against the restraints but they only deepened the wounds she had already created that hadn't healed thanks to the vervain. As her pain welled up in her eyes in the form of tears she refused to let fall, the man drove the stake straight through Elena's right lung. The strike shocked her, making it severely hard for her to breathe. She was quite sure that the dagger was meant for her heart. It seems instead that this man has yet more torture in mind. Elena wondered to herself what Katherine had done to this man and this James person he talked about as she tried to think through the intensity of the pain.

"Well, that should leave you bleeding for awhile. I'll leave you here for a bit since there's something I have to attend to but don't fret dear, I'll be back," the man said with a maniacal smile on his face, taking in the sight of Elena's tortured body one last time before turning to leave the room. Once the door shut behind him Elena allowed herself to slump down in pain, weakened still by the vervain injection and her mind momentarily fogged with the effects of the blood loss. It turns out the dagger had also had vervain on it, Elena noticed, since the bleeding in her chest didn't seem to be stopping. Instead the blood boiled against the soaked stake. _'I…How am I going to get out of this?'_ she thought to herself. _'There's no way that Damon is going to_ _know where I am. I don't even know where I am. And these stupid…cuffs!'_ Elena added mentally in anger as again she futilely struggled against them, only hurting herself more. At this point she didn't care. All she wanted was to get out of there and find Damon. What if this person knew he was with her?What if he went after Damon next? She couldn't let that happen.

**A/N: I like to imagine the newer vampire Elena as a stronger person, someone who doesn't completely fit the whole damsel in distress archetype so hopefully you kind of get that gist as you see her actions coming up in the story. Wouldn't be super easy to just wait for someone as strong as Damon to come and rescue you? Sure! But fighting back is harder! Thanks once again for the reviews, favorites, and follows :)**


	4. Follow the Leader

**A/N: Another short chapter, but next is the final chapter which actually has a bit of length to it now that we have the set up done. I got kind of excited for Damon to rescue Elena so the middle section of the story ended up a bit shorter than I imagined but I may be adding more to this as sort of a collection once it's finished and I see what kind of reception it gets. Anyways, enjoy!**

Damon pulled his car over in front of a small coffee shop they had had breakfast at just the other morning, thinking that whoever had taken Elena had likely been watching them. He started by scoping out the places that they had been since they came into town, which honestly hadn't been many. He looked around, hoping to see someone suspicious, overhear a conversation that might give him some clue, or see some sign of the knowledge of vampires here in this little beach town. He was desperate at this point for any help in finding Elena.

As Damon paced back and fourth down the sidewalk next to the coffee shop holding his phone in anticipation of Jeremy's call, he had turned and accidentally bumped into the side of a passerby. Normally he would have just ignored it but where his arm collided with the right arm of the stranger he felt a familiar burn just barely tingle on his skin. Then immediately he could smell it as well.

_'Vervain?!'_ He thought loudly. _'What's this guy doing with_ _vervain on his sleeve?'_ Before he could think deeper about this strange occurrence he quickly began following the man. As he quietly followed he sent a quick message to Jeremy.

"What's with the delay? Following a lead. When you get the information text it."

He stuffed his phone back down in his jeans pocket and continued tailing the man, focusing on him. He noticed that not only could he smell the vervain on him but he could smell Elena. Her scent gently graced the breeze that followed behind this man. Everything inside Damon wanted to immediately attack this stranger, to make him pay for whatever he had done to his Elena. He knew though that his best chance of finding her was to keep following without being noticed so that hopefully he would incidentally be led to wherever this person might be keeping Elena. He gritted his teeth in frustration.

He was furious that this had happened, angry with himself that just hours ago he was snuggled up next to the love of his life and now he didn't even know where she was or if she was hurt. He clenched his fists and tried not to get lost in his anger as he noticed that his target had made a sharp turn down a stairway that almost seemed concealed between two tall buildings on the street. Down the stairs to the left was a doorway. Damon watched carefully as the man pulled out a key and looked around momentarily as he unlocked the door and slipped in, shutting It behind him. Damon flashed down the stairs and put his ear to the door. He could hear someone's labored breathing through the door and then in an instant he smelt it.; her blood. Without a second thought he slammed into the door, knocking it off its hinges.

**A/N: Oh boy! Let's roll into the final chapter here and see just what happens to these two lovers and this mystery man. Any guesses? I'll say I kind of left it open so I can work more with it possibly in the future, but there's definitely closure at the end. :) Unlike the TV show I'm not very privy to cliffhangers. Haha.**


	5. Take Me Home

**A/N: Yay final chapter! And it's a long one, but it's full of goodies for fluff lovers and Delena fans so hopefully you enjoy it! :)**

Elena began to look around the room for anything that might be able to help her in her escape or at least aid her in knowing where she was. The room was small, dimly lit, not much to look at. Apparently it had been well prepped for vampire torture. She already suffered the effects of vervain laced restraints, a dagger to the chest, and a gag that burned her mouth and face continually. Looking around she noticed various objects lying around. One particularly caught her eye; a screwdriver. She looked down at the restraints around her ankles, noticing with surprised satisfaction that they were each held down by a screw twisted in place. It looked like she could use a good old fashioned human method to get herself out of this if she could only reach that screwdriver! Problem was that she was stuck in that chair, arms and legs bound, breaths becoming shallower. As soon as she had her hand free that dagger had to go if she had any hopes of staying conscious long enough to completely free herself. Good news was that the screwdriver was mere feet away, literally just out of her reach to a counter on her right. She just might have a chance to reach it if only her hand was free.

_'Well,'_ she thought painfully, knowing her next course of action wasn't going to be easy, '_it beats staying here waiting for what might be next…" _Elena looked down to her right hand and sighed, sweat from the effort of breathing so shallow beginning to drip off her brow. Slowly she began pulling her arm backwards, immediately causing the barbs inside the restraint to tear into her flesh, burning the layers underneath with the poison seeping from them. Her face scrunched up in pain but she didn't stop. No time to be a quitter now when her options were severely limited. She turned her head away to look anywhere else, hoping that would help her ignore the pain from her hand being sliced into. She pulled with fierceness now, wanting to get it over with as quick as possible. If she could just get it free it would start to heal up enough that the pain would pass and she could very possibly get herself out of this.

Finally, with all the might her waning strength could muster, she yanked her arm back hard, finally freeing her hand. She heaved out a heavy breath and blinked her eyes several times, waiting for the wave of throbbing that had come over her to cease. After a moment she looked over at her hand and took note of the damage. It wasn't horrible, if you don't call half-inch deep gashes running down your wrist and you hand horrible. Luckily for Elena the wounds were very slowly starting to heal up enough that she could get some use out of her hand, but without some fresh blood to replenish her system which was still continuously loosing blood, it wouldn't heal much more than that.

Elena changed her focus, moving to her next task; getting rid of the stake. This would no doubt hurt as well, considering her already damaged hand would have to withstand the vervain soaked dagger long enough to pull it out of her chest. But, in a fairly Damon-like manner she grabbed the dagger with little if any hesitation and gasped as she quickly pulled the dagger out and tossed it to the floor, shaking her hand in the process hoping to relieve the burning. A few gasps later she could feel the slow onset of healing in her chest, relieving her labored breathing a little. Now, to get that screwdriver!

Elena reached her right hand out as far as she could towards the tool, reaching with all her might, her left arm pulling at its restraint as she stretched with every inch her confinement would allow. She was almost there! Her fingers wiggled in the struggle to just get a millimeters more reach. She could just barely tap the end of it, and with each tap she tried to budge it closer to her grip. '_Just a little…bit…more…"_ she thought, reaching with all her might. With a stroke of amazing luck, she was able to clasp the screwdriver between her fingers and slowly she drew it back to herself just enough that she could get a full hand hold on it. She leaned back over into the chair, slouching with exhaustion, the blood loss catching up to her fast. She felt triumphant though. She had it! She was able to get the one thing that could be her salvation. She quickly leaned over, taking the screwdriver to the first restraint, hurriedly, although not so nimbly undoing the screw on the right restraint. She pulled the cuff back off her ankle and leaned over to her left restraint, doing the same. After fumbling with the second one for what seemed like forever, she was able to free it as well, pulling it off of her other ankle. Now, the only thing left was her left hand, which luckily was snared the same way as the other two. Once she removed it she reached up with her less damaged hand and yanked the gag down out of her mouth and it hung around her neck. Thankfully it had dried a bit and only stung slightly against her skin. It was the least of her concerns at the moment as she slowly stood up from the chair. She was wobbly and weak and it showed. She took careful steps towards the door to the room and as she did she heard footsteps approaching from outside. As quickly as she could she reached over for the screwdriver she had left behind and stepped over behind a wall within the room, concealing herself, hoping to have the upper hand on whoever was about to enter through that door.

As the man entered and shut the door, shock crossed his face as he realized the chair where he had left who he believed to be Katherine was empty. Blood pooled at the foot of the chair and he could see the screws lying in the blood. He also quickly noticed a blood trail that dripped just around the corner or the wall protruding into the room. He smirked and let out a short laugh.

"Oh darling Katherine, I almost thought you escaped me but I see that you've ran yourself into a dead end," he said as he slowly began to approach Elena. She was starting to sink slowly down towards the ground with exhaustion as he approached, trying to be as quiet as possible, although it seemed the gig was up. As hard as she had worked to escape her restraints it felt pointless now that she was cornered, clinging to consciousness and a screwdriver. She was suddenly startled as she heard the door to the tiny room burst open and crash to the floor in pieces. Elena gasped and peeked her head around the corner, suddenly feeling the most remarkable sense of relief and at the same time fear for she didn't want Damon to be anywhere near this dangerous man, even if he was saving her in the process.

"Damon!" she called out from around the wall, stepping out into view with her hand against the wall for support. Before Damon gave in to the urge to run to her, to sweep her off her feet and take her away from this place, he jumped the man who had turned around in shock at his dramatic entrance, fangs bared and eyes glowing red. He immediately bit into his neck and savagely ravaged the man until he fell unconscious in Damon's grasp. Damon let his body drop to the floor with a loud thud as he rushed over to Elena, wrapping his hands around her waist to support her shaky frame. He looked her over and noticed that she was bloody and injured. Her hand was mangled, her chest soaked in blood, and her ankles had various cuts running down them. What he noticed most though was the burnt flesh on her beautiful pallid cheeks, the vervain soaked gag hanging from her neck. He quickly reached up and ripped it off and as he did she fell into his arms, trying with all her might to hug him but her arms almost instantly went limp.

"Elena! Elena talk to me. It's okay now. I'm gonna get you home and you'll be alright. Here," he said as he bit into his wrist and offered her his blood. He knew it wouldn't be enough but at least getting some in her would help her regain some amount of strength. Elena looked up at Damon as he sat down with her in his lap. The man who attacked her was still unconscious and bleeding out so they had a moment's time to let Elena catch her breath. Elena gave a weak smile and reached up with her good hand to grab his wrist and pull it to her mouth. Damon supported her head with his hand as she drank. Within a few moments he could see the color slowly coming back into her cheeks, see the wounds on her hand and the hole in her chest start to close up more. She stopped fairly quickly, not wanting to take too much from him. She breathed a heavy sigh, glad to be able to take in more air. Damon wiped the sweat away from her forehead and put his hand to her cool face. "How do you feel?" he asked, sounding so genuinely concerned that Elena felt bad that he had been so worried.

"Better, now that you're here," she said softly, smiling again. She was weak but she couldn't explain just how happy she was that he had made it when he did. "I tried my best to get out, to get to you. I didn't want you to get involved. I was afraid he might hurt you too. He thought I was Katherine. He wouldn't let me explain myself. I…" but she was cut off by Damon's lips as they pressed against hers softly. He was so glad to have her back and to see that she was alive that he got caught up in his emotions in that moment.

"I am so, so sorry this happened Elena," he said as he pulled her tightly to his chest, slowly pulling them into a standing position. "When I woke up and you weren't there…I've never felt so panicked. It was sheer luck that I stumbled across that guy and realized he had you. It didn't help that the fool had vervain on his clothes. But then again, without that I wouldn't have even known to suspect him. Are you okay to walk? I wanna get you out of here," he finished, keeping her supported with his arm around her waist.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just don't let go of me and I think we'll make it alright," Elena said as she frowned slightly. She didn't like being this weak. It made her feel vulnerable and like a burden to Damon. Damon simply grabbed her tighter and together they left the small room. They both still had questions about how this man had found them or why he wanted to torture Katherine, although they certainly didn't want to hang around and find out. As badly as Damon wanted to finish him, kill him for hurting Elena, he knew he wanted much more to get her somewhere far away from him where she could heal up and he certainly wasn't going to let her out of his sight. Damon scooped Elena up into his arms surprisingly, not wanting her to have to walk the few blocks between them and his car, and made it to the car within seconds where he tucked her safely into the front seat of the car. As he got in on his side, he reached into a bag in the back seat and handed Elena a blood bag. She gratefully took the bag from him and hurriedly drained it, wanting to help her body finish healing.

"Better?" Damon asked as he put the keys in the ignition.

"Much better," Elena replied, finally leaning back in her seat and relaxing for a while. Damon suddenly remembered something and reached into his pocket for his phone. He called Jeremy who answered on the first ring. "Damon, listen I'm on my way there to help you find…" but Jeremy was cut off by Damon quickly as he explained that he had found Elena and that she was alright and that he could go back to the house since they were on their way there anyways. Jeremy sighed a heavy sigh of relief and hung up the phone. It seemed all was okay and he hadn't blown the Bonnie secret in this whole ordeal. And most of all, his sister was fine and coming home. He gladly turned the car around and headed back to the boarding house to wait for Damon and Elena.

"What was that about?" Elena asked Damon, wondering why Damon had been in contact with her brother although it must have had to do with her kidnapping.

"I couldn't get a hold of Bonnie right away so I had to bring Jeremy into the mix to try to find her so she could do a locator spell," Damon explained. Elena reached over and took his free hand in hers, smiling at him, realizing just how much he had done to try to find her.

"Thank you for saving me, Damon. I'm so lucky to have you." Elena couldn't wait to get home so she could snuggle up next to Damon in front of the fire and just relax, knowing she was safe with him back where she felt most at home. After their getaway had gone so horribly wrong she was glad to be getting away from that place and back to where she could at least be prepared for something like that to happen, in a place where she expected it.

The rest of the drive they were silent, just taking in each other's presence, their hands never parting. Elena rested with her head back against the head rest as Damon drove. He periodically peeked over at her and at one point he had noticed she had fallen into a light sleep. At that point he slowed the car just a bit, giving her the chance to get a cat nap in before they made it back home to Jeremy who would surely bombard her with attention after fearing the worst for her. Damon understood that, but knew Elena needed some rest after today. They may be vampires but it looked like she had been through more than enough to earn some rest. He couldn't help but smile as he glanced back at her sleeping form, a peaceful look gracing her beautiful features. He noticed the marks from the gag that was once around her mouth had disappeared. He was glad to see them gone. Elena had such a beautiful face, her complexion unbelievably smooth. Damon knew this because he had spent the entire summer stealing glances at it, running his fingers across it, and planting kisses on any and every part of it as often as possible as if he couldn't get enough of her beauty. Or maybe it was because that half of her beauty was simply due to the radiating happiness that shone outward from her. Just looking into her eyes could make him happy enough to burst. He certainly didn't know how he could be any happier.

Slowly, Damon led the car up the drive to the boarding house. He could see Jeremy waiting in the doorway so he stopped a few feet short of his usual spot. He slowly reached over and lightly traced a finger across Elena's cheek, trying to softly awaken her. She took in a deep breath and smiled as she opened her eyes to meet his beautiful blue ones. "Time to wake up sleeping beauty," he said as he smirked at her, still maintaining his grip on her hand that he'd had the entire drive. "We're home. Don't worry, I'll take you to upstairs so you can get some sleep as soon as you let Jeremy give you some attention. He was pretty worried about you I'm sure."

"Thanks my handsome prince," Elena replied, giggling at herself just a little. She was still shaking off the sleep as Damon leaned over and placed a light kiss on her cheek. Then he suddenly appeared on her other side, outside the car, to open the door and lead her to the house. He still wrapped one arm around her waist, not necessarily because she needed it but more because _he _needed it. He needed to be sure she wouldn't disappear again and to him, the only way that would happen would be if he didn't let go of her any time soon. As they made their way to the door Jeremy all but knocked her over with the force of his embrace, and yet Damon still kept a hand on the small of her back, waiting to take her back as soon as Jeremy let go.

"I'm so glad you're alright," Jeremy said as he squeezed her tight. He pulled her back to look at her to make sure she looked alright and mostly she did. Everything had healed up pretty well, although nothing had taken the blood out of her beautiful white dress so she looked slightly scary when you took in the pallor of her skin and the blood soaked clothes.

"Me too, Jer. I'm just glad Damon was able to find me and I'm glad to be home even more," she replied, leaning back into Damon's grasp. She smiled at her brother as they made their way into the house. Elena noticed her reflection in a mirror they passed in the hall and stopped, looking at her dress. "I need to go upstairs and change. I'll be right back," she said as she started to walk forward, almost stepping out of Damon's grasp. He leaned forward and began to walk with her. "Damon I'll be right back, you don't have to follow me."

"Oh no, I'm certainly not letting you out of my sight," he said as he pulled her tighter to his side. He may be acting just a bit too over protective but he clearly didn't care. "We'll go upstairs so you can change and then we'll do whatever you like," he added with a smile. Elena just laughed and let him follow her upstairs to his room. She quickly found a tank top and some sweatpants and slipped into them, feeling much more comfortable and not so macabre. She walked over to where Damon sat on the bed and wrapped her arms around him. She breathed in deeply, taking in his warm scent; always leathery, mixed with strong cologne and a touch of aftershave. That smell always brought a smile to her face. It was the scent attached to all of her memories of Damon, the good and the bad. Sometimes she would catch his smell and get lost in memories of him, times when she was angry with him and times where she was utterly confused about him. There was no confusion now. He was the love of her life and she didn't want to be anywhere he wasn't. Damon pulled her back just enough that he could bring his face up to hers and take her lips for his own, giving her a much deeper kiss than the sweet ones he had be sharing with her since he found her. For a moment they were both lost in it, but eventually broke apart as she began to slump a bit, still tired from the day's events.

"Mmmm, that was nice but it seems I'm still a bit too tired to keep up with you," Elena mused as she put her hands on either side of his face while he wrapped his tighter around her waist, supporting her.

"That's okay, I tend to have that effect on people," he said with that teasing tone he always took with her. Teasing her would never get old and she almost always loved it just as much as he did. "Come on, it's still too early to resign ourselves to bed and I figure for Jeremy's sake we could spend some time downstairs," Damon said as he stood up and walked with Elena down to the den.

Damon sat down with her on the couch in front of the fireplace, pulling her down into his lap and tossing a blanket from the back of the couch over her. She nuzzled into his chest and he smiled and began to run his fingers through her hair. They could have stayed like that for days, just being there, holding each other. Eventually they would end up upstairs, eager to spend time completely alone but for now this would certainly do.

**A/N: Well thanks for sticking around for the end! I hope you didn't mind leaving the mystery man, well, a mystery. I have more ideas possibly with this person so I purposely kind of left his story in the dark. Thank you so much for reading and all the support from reviews, follows, and favorites :) You guys keep me posting what I write!**


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